Whenever the question “ Are you willing to travel ” is asked, it is mainly for reasons relating to a job which an employer is offering and asks such a question to see whether the person is willing to travel for the job which may be at a faraway location.
If the person wants the job should spontaneous and confident enough to show that there isn’t any doubt when answering.
Answering ‘Are You Willing to Travel?’ Interview Questions:
Visiting and exploring new places by traveling is always a fun thing but when you are on work then the situation would be totally different.
Also one must understand that there is a lot of difference between job relocation and job-related traveling.
You will be having a gala time if your trip is sponsored by the company, as in such cases most of the time your expenses will be paid by your organization. But this does not happen in all situations. When you are in job-related travel, not every time you will be able to enjoy the new place but rather would be completing the work and returning back.
Also, your term of traveling can be 1 day to 1 week or sometimes a few months. There are instances where the company would not pay you anything if you took extra time or stayed back there for long.
What Does “WILLINGNESS TO TRAVEL” Really Mean?
There are mainly 2 types of traveling
- Seasonal traveling: Where the traveling would be for a few months or weeks
2. Regular traveling: Travel based on a percentage calculated upon a month or year.
Overall this is also a wonderful job for people who love traveling. The only problem with such a job would be longer traveling time and less resting time. It could also affect your personal life as well as your health. Though most people out of joy, answer as ‘YES’, later due to hectic work schedule they will not be able to manage.
So before taking any such decision, it is better to ask a few questions to the employer to get a clear idea. Some of them are,
- Will travelling be intense?
- What about the expenses? (what all will be covered)
- How should the percentage number be calculated? Yearly or monthly?
- How much of traveling would be needed on an average?
Now if you have got clear and convincing answers for the above-mentioned questions then you can craft your answer accordingly.
So there are certain things that the person needs to keep in mind when they are answering the employer as there shouldn’t be any doubt while telling it to them and some of these points should be kept in mind.
20 Tips to Answer Are You Willing to Travel or Relocate for the Job:
1. Let them know you want to do your job well:
The ideal reason when the person is responding to such a question would be for the employer to understand that the person would like to do their job well enough.
No matter when the question asks regarding traveling for the job, the main aim is that the person should understand that they need to let the employer know that they want to do their job well at all times.
2. Get all the information before answering:
Before answer such a question asked by the employer or any person, the individual needs to get all the information regarding it as soon as possible so that the individual can have a better and broader perspective regarding the job. So get all the information regarding the job before making a final decision and then think about it for a while and submit a final decision to the employer.
3. Ask how much time to be spent:
Before giving a decision to the employer, the person needs to ask them how much time will be spent out when they go on the road as this information is really basic which is to be known by them.
The person needs to know how much amount of their work will be spent out in traveling. They also need to know how much time will take to travel along with how many nights or days the person will be out on their job on the road away from their home.
4. Ask a time breakdown on the road:
When the employer asks or tells the individual that they will be traveling for some part, then the person needs to ask the employer for how long will they be away, will it be for a long time which even can go permanently or will it be for a temporary basis.
Will it be for a long time for a year or months or will it be for a few days? There is a big difference between the temporary and permanent traveling which the person should know well before giving any final decision.
5. Are all the expenses going to pay:
The individual should also find out from the employer that what all expenses might incur during the travel and how much of it will the company pay. The person can ask certain questions whether the person needs to use his car for traveling, whether will they get any kind of bonus or any overtime when they are on these trips or will all necessities such as food, clothing, and shelter be covered during this journey for the person.
6. Know that your family aggresses with it:
Before deciding whether the individual is ready for traveling they need to know that their spouse along with other family members are okay with traveling and it shouldn’t disrupt any kind of family harmony and know that the person’s family can afford them to go for this travel. But the person should know that in their absence, their family should continue properly doing their daily tasks and not be too dependable on the individual going on the travel.
7. Talk about traveling positively:
When the employer asks the person regarding whether or not they are willing to travel for a job they need to talk about it positively so that the employer knows that the individual wants to work.
Talking about how traveling has worked positively for them in the past should be told and let them know that traveling has benefited them concerning their education as well as training in the past, thus making them familiar with different things around them.
8. Talk about responsibility in the job:
Talking about how committed the person is with regards to the job they are currently doing lets the employer know that they want to do their job well even if it does involve some part of traveling. When such a question asked about traveling then the person must be committed that they want to work well and let them know that they can rely on them when it comes to the question of job responsibility irrespective of where the job is.
9. Tell them that traveling improves the company’s networking:
One of the benefits that a person or a company gets when they travel on their job is to increase the number of contacts with themselves and the company they are working for. When such a question regarding whether or not the person would want to travel, they need to let their employer know that these kinds of benefits can happen and it will help the company making several contacts when they are out traveling.
10. Travelling can expand one’s opportunities:
When the question regarding traveling arises, the person should first realize that such a journey may increase opportunity in their life later in the future. So once they realize that they need to let their employer know that they are willing to work for the company and travel for the job, they should inform it right away without any delay.
11. Don’t’ complain at once:
When the employer asks the person whether or not they are willing to travel, the person shouldn’t start complaining about it to them at the first instant itself. They should first gather all the information regarding the travel opportunity and then give a valid decision and not complain as it can lay a bad impression about them to their employer. They may even assume that the person isn’t interested in the job opportunity presented to them at this time.
12. Don’t talk about previous bad experiences:
In the past, it may have happened with the individual that their travel experience didn’t work out well with them. They should know that during this time when a new travel opportunity regarding their job presented to them, they shouldn’t mention any of their previous past bad experiences or any kind of misfortunes that happened before their journey begins. It may lay an impression on the employer that this person cannot trust with anything major.
13. Don’t talk about anything off-topic:
Whenever a person speaks about traveling outside the city they are currently living in, even if it is relating to their job, at first in their head things like sightseeing comes up just because they are going out on traveling.
So whenever the employer is talking about a traveling journey concerning business then they must not talk about anything related to sightseeing at all times so that the employer doesn’t think that the person will lack or fail in the job that they have to do.
14. Don’t start talking about family responsibilities:
Everyone who is working is mainly for themselves in their everyday life or for their family for supporting them so it is obvious that everyone has family responsibilities to be fulfilled. So they should know that their family doesn’t need them at all times even though they may be out for a while.
So the person shouldn’t tell their employer that they have family responsibilities and can’t make it and not give a very long description of it, as you may miss such an opportunity.
15. Don’t talk about travel preference:
This says that the person shouldn’t let their employer know the percentage or give a number to how much amount of traveling they would like to do when they are sent out for travel.
They shouldn’t mention, any kind of number whether high or low towards how many days they like to be traveling. If they make such a mistake they may face problems at the moment on their journey or may even have inconveniences later on in their next traveling opportunity.
16. Don’t speak about traveling as a burden:
Whenever the person is giving any kind of answer to the employer regarding the answer towards whether or not they are willing to travel they shouldn’t refer towards this traveling opportunity as a burden on their life and at once show negativity towards it.
If they do so at once the employer will realize that they are not fit enough for this kind of a job at this moment and may not even be ready later on in the future too and so they need to be aware that they do not respond in this way.
17. Answer the question honestly:
Whenever this type of question asked by the employer whether or not they are willing to travel for the job, the person should remember that they should always answer the question honestly.
There is no compulsion in their work life whether they have to go for this travel at this time and if they aren’t ready completely they can be honest and decline the opportunity.
18. Mention all limitations concerning traveling:
When the question arises regarding the willingness of the person to travel, if they have any kind of limitations in their life they need to be clear when they speak to the employer about it.
If the person does have to travel on weekends for example then they must let their employer know that they aren’t comfortable with it and will only be able to travel on weekdays. The person should let the employer know about this initially.
19. Ask all the necessary questions:
Following up on all that has been said by the employer whether or not the person is willing to travel for their job, the person needs to ask a few further questions so that they are clarified with everything and know everything in detail.
Asking all sorts of questions gets the person an opportunity to get more information regarding their travel and lets the employer also know that the person interested in this travel opportunity and lets both of them remain honest enough with each other.
20. Emphasize on the company while speaking:
When the travel opportunity is being discussed by the employer the person needs to emphasize more on the company rather than thinking about themselves. Certain things like staying in a free hotel room or getting a chance to travel in new places should overshadow and the benefits of the job and company should be focused on.
Are you willing to Travel Sample Answers:
Freshers:
Experienced:
How to Answer “ARE YOU WILLING TO TRAVEL?”: Do’s and Dont’s?
Do’s:
- Include talking about networking experiences you had
- Show them that you understand the job role very well
- Share your positive travel events
Dont’s:
- Do not include your vacations or family trips
- Also, include few bad experiences by which you can learn something
- Do not mention a specific availability period
- Lying about your availability
Conclusion:
So the most important thing when such a question or something similar to this would be for both the employer and the employee is, to be honest with one another. Both of them should put the company ahead of themselves individually and should see in what way they can improve in doing the job and see growth within them taking advantage of such an opportunity presented to them.
